Jermain Defoe has revealed that Steven Gerrard didn't think he was 'totally' ready for the Rangers manager role when accepting the position - but it was too big a pull to pass up on.
The pair were England teammates together during the Liverpool legend's playing days but soon the relationship changed as Gerrard became Defoe's boss when bringing him to Glasgow for a spell of two years in 2020. He wrapped up his playing days a few months later in Sunderland and now coaches within former side Tottenham Hotspur's youth structure.
As part of a new podcast series with the BBC, Defoe embarks on his hunt to find out what it takes to be a manager and revealed that when Rangers were naming his ex-England teammate, there was a conversation between them. Gerrard told the now 40-year-old that he wasn't sure whether or not he was ready for Rangers in 2018 after time coaching in the Liverpool academy, but Defoe would make the same call in those shoes, explaining: "I probably would to be honest (find it hard to turn down a job if offered).
"When it's something you want and you turn it down, you might be thinking I won't get this opportunity again. I remember speaking to Steven Gerrard when he got the Rangers job.
"I was speaking to Stevie at the time and did he feel he was totally ready? Probably not, but it was too big an opportunity to turn down. How can you turn down being the manager of Rangers Football Club? I probably think on that level that if the opportunity is there, and I don't take it, it might never get this opportunity again."
